01-16-2018, 04:28 PM
Some thoughts from Hob's about the o-line, draft and extensions. Seems like he's already tempering the free agency expectations:
No question they’ll use a raft of picks on the offensive line. Probably not at No. 12. From what I’m hearing early on that’s a deep position in rounds two to four and with an extra third you could easily see them coming out of the first two days with possibly two O-linemen. I think the Bengals are going to go through due diligence in free agency and look for line upgrades, but I also don’t see them straying far from their philosophy.
They’ve already got their eyes on a pair of huge deals in free agency and they’re named Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap, two of the league’s top defensive linemen heading into their contract years. They’d like/need to get them done now and, yes, they’ll also pursue re-signing a tight end, too. But it’s probably going to be Tyler Kroft and not Tyler Eifert, although they may look at some kind of a reduced deal with Eifert given he’s in another offseason of rehab.
And don’t they have to re-sign right tackle Andre Smith? He really bailed them out at tackle when both Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher struggled. So with Atkins, Dunlap, Kroft, and Smith theoretically getting extended, they’re going to have to find a guy that fits in that salary structure. The guy they’re expected to lose in free agency is running back Jeremy Hill and Eifert is going to be interesting. If somebody throws big money at him, but it’s most likely not the Bengals.
No question they’ll use a raft of picks on the offensive line. Probably not at No. 12. From what I’m hearing early on that’s a deep position in rounds two to four and with an extra third you could easily see them coming out of the first two days with possibly two O-linemen. I think the Bengals are going to go through due diligence in free agency and look for line upgrades, but I also don’t see them straying far from their philosophy.
They’ve already got their eyes on a pair of huge deals in free agency and they’re named Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap, two of the league’s top defensive linemen heading into their contract years. They’d like/need to get them done now and, yes, they’ll also pursue re-signing a tight end, too. But it’s probably going to be Tyler Kroft and not Tyler Eifert, although they may look at some kind of a reduced deal with Eifert given he’s in another offseason of rehab.
And don’t they have to re-sign right tackle Andre Smith? He really bailed them out at tackle when both Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher struggled. So with Atkins, Dunlap, Kroft, and Smith theoretically getting extended, they’re going to have to find a guy that fits in that salary structure. The guy they’re expected to lose in free agency is running back Jeremy Hill and Eifert is going to be interesting. If somebody throws big money at him, but it’s most likely not the Bengals.
